Sunday, November 8, 2015

As promised when I revealed my Top 5 Modest Mouse songs, here is the final post in the series. I want to take a look at how the releases would be ranked if I assign points based on the position of each song. Next, I will compare this year's ranking to the smaller series I did for the Top 25 last year. I also want to mention a couple of unreleased songs that would have made the Top 100 if I had considered them eligible.

But first, I have something to say to Isaac Brock:

Message for Isaac Brock

Isaac, if you're
somehow reading this, I want to sincerely thank you for all the music.
For the past 18 months or so, it's been hard for me to play anything else, even by
other bands that I love. Whenever I am having a bad day at work, on go
the headphones and my choice of Modest Mouse albums. Your music enables
me to get through anything and it almost instantly improves my mood.

Your lyrics are incredible, as well as the music. There is so much insight and intelligence in your writing. It astounds me that so many of my favorite lyrics and songs come from things you created 20 years ago at such a young age.

I'll
definitely be going to any future concert within 500km of Toronto. It's
obvious that you give everything when you play and I have never
detected any performance that is less than one hundred percent effort.
Well, it's more like you are possessed than making any kind of effort.

My
most recent concert was London Ontario on September 10, 2015. I grinned
like an idiot when you went into the break with the message that you
were going to "play as long as we fucking can" for the second part of
the show. And what a show that was.

It impresses the
hell out of me that a show could contain almost anything from your
catalog. I think around 70 different songs were played on the latest
tour? No other band does that.

I wouldn't presume to mess with
your creative process. I want you to play exactly what you want to play
instead of turning shows into a performance. However, I have to wonder
whether you would ever do a Lonesome Crowded West 20th anniversary tour.
The first part of the show would be that album, then whatever you felt
like playing in the second part. It would be incredible to hear all of
those songs played live on the same night.

Other dream
scenarios would be a studio release of Beta Carotene and a lot more new
music. I hope that the new album surfaces in 2016. If we're really
talking dream scenarios, I would love to write your biography.

I've
wasted your time long enough. I appreciate you acknowledging my efforts
by liking my Twitter posts. I hope that you keep recording and playing
for a very long time. I'll be listening and attending.

---

Let's continue by ranking the albums and other various releases. I will allot 100 points for the top song in my rankings, right down to 1 point for song number 100. Some songs appear on more than one release, so I am going to assign points from songs on Interstate 8 to Building Nothing Out of Something or This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About (two bonus vinyl tracks) as applicable for the purposes of this ranking.

Rank

TRACK TITLE

Pts

RELEASE TITLE

Pts

1

Teeth Like God's Shoeshine

100

The Moon & Antarctica

872

2

Doin' the Cockroach

99

This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to
Think About

825

3

Spitting Venom

98

The Lonesome Crowded West

819

4

Heart Cooks Brain

97

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

677

5

Dramamine

96

Good News for People Who Love Bad News

542

6

Exit Does Not Exist

95

Strangers to Ourselves

524

7

The Whale Song

94

Building Nothing Out of Something

363

8

Cowboy Dan

93

No One's First and You're Next

204

9

Trailer Trash

92

7" Single

81

10

3rd Planet

91

Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks

57

11

Dark Center of the Universe

90

The Fruit That Ate Itself

47

12

Never Ending Math Equation

89

12" Single

34

13

Lounge (Closing Time)

88

Sad Sappy Sucker

5

14

The Stars Are Projectors

87

15

Steam Engenius

86

16

Fly Trapped In a Jar

85

17

Bury Me With It

84

18

The Tortoise and the Tourist

83

19

Parting Of the Sensory

82

20

White Lies, Yellow Teeth

81

21

Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes

80

22

Truckers Atlas

79

23

Broke

78

24

Edit the Sad Parts

77

25

Breakthrough

76

26

Invisible

75

27

Novacain Stain

74

28

Ocean Breathes Salty

73

29

Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset

72

30

Black Cadillacs

71

31

I Came As a Rat

70

32

Grey Ice Water

69

33

A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy

68

34

A Different City

67

35

Life Like Weeds

66

36

Convenient Parking

65

37

Paper Thin Walls

64

38

Tundra/Desert

63

39

Gravity Rides Everything

62

40

The Best Room

61

41

Head South

60

42

The World at Large

59

43

Interstate 8

58

44

Night On the Sun

57

45

Be Brave

56

46

Lampshades On Fire

55

47

King Rat

54

48

Float On

53

49

Alone Down There

52

50

The Ground Walks, With Time In a Box

51

51

What People Are Made Of

50

52

Bukowski

49

53

Education

48

54

Dashboard

47

55

Sugar Boats

46

56

Custom Concern

45

57

Ansel

44

58

The View

43

59

Shit In Your Cut

42

60

Satin In a Coffin

41

61

Little Motel

40

62

Shit Luck

39

63

Bankrupt On Selling

38

64

Beach Side Property

37

65

Lives

36

66

Wicked Campaign

35

67

Whenever You See Fit

34

68

The Cold Part

33

69

Missed the Boat

32

70

Florida

31

71

Guilty Cocker Spaniels

30

72

The Waydown

29

73

People As Places As People

28

74

Ohio

27

75

Satellite Skin

26

76

A Life Of Arctic Sounds

25

77

Perfect Disguise

24

78

The Good Times Are Killing Me

23

79

Blame It On the Tetons

22

80

Coyotes

21

81

March Into the Sea

20

82

All Night Diner

19

83

Sunspots In the House Of the Late Scapegoat

18

84

Pups to Dust

17

85

Might

16

86

Polar Opposites

15

87

One Chance

14

88

Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In

13

89

Other People's Lives

12

90

She Ionizes & Atomizes

11

91

Dance Hall

10

92

Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice Alright

9

93

Space Travel Is Boring

8

94

Of Course We Know

7

95

Strangers to Ourselves

6

96

Out Of Gas

5

97

Dukes Up

4

98

We've Got Everything

3

99

Fire It Up

2

100

Birds vs Worms

1

These results surprise me. I would have guessed that with 6 songs in my Top 10, The Lonesome Crowded West would dominate overall. However, it places third behind The Moon & Antarctica and This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About. I have counted Edit the Sad Parts and A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy as tracks from This Is a Long Drive as they appeared as bonus tracks on the vinyl version. I suppose I should have weighted tracks that appear higher in the rankings, but I am happy to see two other albums in the same discussion as The Lonesome Crowded West.

The results don't mean that the other releases aren't worth hearing. I am comparing excellent albums to my absolute favorites. If I ranked all of my music collection and included every band, Modest Mouse releases would completely dominate the list. There are quite a few unmissable songs that didn't even make the 100. Three that immediately come to mind are Dirty Fingernails, Baby Blue Sedan and Jesus Christ Was An Only Child. There is no Modest Mouse song that I would ever want to skip.

As promised, let's compare the rankings from this project with my much smaller effort from last year. The Lonesome Crowded Quest was written as my love of the band was soaring, but I only ranked the Top 25. I talked about 59 songs overall, but some did not receive a final ranking. It was written 15 months ago, so Strangers to Ourselves had not been released. Here's the comparison to show where the Top 25 from 2014 would fit in these current rankings:

PREV

NOW

TRACK TITLE

1

1

Teeth Like God's Shoeshine

2

2

Doin' the Cockroach

6

3

Spitting Venom

8

4

Heart Cooks Brain

7

5

Dramamine

4

6

Exit Does Not Exist

3

7

The Whale Song

21

8

Cowboy Dan

13

9

Trailer Trash

5

10

3rd Planet

11

11

Dark Center of the Universe

-

12

Never Ending Math Equation

-

13

Lounge (Closing Time)

14

14

The Stars Are Projectors

20

15

Steam Engenius

-

16

Fly Trapped In a Jar

16

17

Bury Me With It

-

18

The Tortoise and the Tourist

-

19

Parting Of the Sensory

-

20

White Lies, Yellow Teeth

10

21

Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes

-

22

Truckers Atlas

18

23

Broke

15

24

Edit the Sad Parts

-

25

Breakthrough

24

26

Invisible

-

27

Novacain Stain

17

28

Ocean Breathes Salty

9

29

Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset

22

30

Black Cadillacs

23

31

I Came As a Rat

-

32

Grey Ice Water

-

33

A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy

-

34

A Different City

-

35

Life Like Weeds

-

36

Convenient Parking

-

37

Paper Thin Walls

12

38

Tundra/Desert

-

39

Gravity Rides Everything

-

40

The Best Room

19

41

Head South

25

42

The World at Large

-

43

Interstate 8

-

44

Night On the Sun

-

45

Be Brave

-

46

Lampshades On Fire

-

47

King Rat

-

48

Float On

-

49

Alone Down There

-

50

The Ground Walks, With Time In a Box

I think the above comparison shows just how futile a project such as this can be. My own rankings from just over a year ago are significantly different from how I currently rate the songs. I wonder how it would look if I attempt this kind of thing when the next album is released?

As I mentioned earlier, the 100 songs that I ranked were all official releases. Some were singles, but you could go to the Glacial Pace store or Amazon and track down every release if you are missing any. But Modest Mouse has other songs that I did not deem eligible for this project.

Two cassettes were produced, with about 100 copies being made for each, of the band's early songs. The quality is poor, but it's more than interesting to see how Modest Mouse's sound originated:

Tube-Fruit, All Smiles and Chocolate consists of 25 tracks. If you listen to Tossing Your Weight, Super Saver Day, or Crow Bar, you know that you're listening to Modest Mouse.

Uncle Bunny Faces' Useless Analogy Involving Distance, Freight Trains, and Half Ripe Limes (It Doesn't Matter, Limes Are Sour Either Way) consists of 22 tracks. You can see where the tendency to choose long album names originated. As On, Vandetta and Problem really starts to show us the Modest Mouse sound. I would love to hear a studio version of that with today's lineup. The structure that I love now is present in that song for sure.

Those early releases aside, I want to share three songs that any Modest Mouse fan should have the chance to hear. Two would probably feature somewhere in the second half of my Top 100, while the third would be in the Top 20, or perhaps even the Top 10.

This one is from 1995 or so:

Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office (Wrong Decision)

Get a job at the dead letter office
I said I was sore, but I am so sick, so sick
Bad life with a bad plan, Brad's here
I'm doin' bad, but I'm doin' the best I can

I know I made decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

You say you wonder, wonder how
How I get here, got here now
Well I put on my shoes and socks
Goddamn If I walked here tiff or tock
You say you wonder wonder how
How I get here, got here now

Get a job at the dead letter office
I said I was sore, but I'm so sick, so sick
Bad life with a bad plan, Brad's here
I'm doin' bad, but I'm doin' the best I can

I know I made decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

You say you wonder, wonder how
How I get here, got here now
Well I put on my shoes and socks
Goddamn if I walked here tiff or tock

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

Next up is Calculus Man with that incredibly catchy bass:

And the stars
Shine on
Get On
The Planet

The stars
They shine on
They shine on
This planet

The stars are projectors
Projectin' our lives on down to this planet

The stars are on
And projectin' our lives on to
This planet
Fine
I know everything

And the stars
They're projectin' our lives on down to
This planet
Oh yeah
The films we're watchin' is you
And said "How?"
You get on your knee
Your mouthin' my mood
If you were talking out loud
You'd say a "Howdy do"

And I get my mouth
And my words
They can't make use
To my mouth out of or my brain
And you say what you do
When you do what you said
You're talking out of to
You're talking out of threat
I want what
I get on
I get off
I get the things you don't want

And I walk to my head
And I walk through my hell
And I walk through my head
And I know I ain't goin' nowhere
And I talk myself
And I talk to my hell
And I'm walkin' round

The planets they revolve around themselves
They evolve
You were talking to god
You were talking to mom
And you were sayin' things loud
And I was doin' out loud
You said "I can't"

And the planets projectin' their selves around

And the stars
They're projectin' our lives on this earth

And the stars are projectors
Projectin' our lives on to this earth

I watch you playin' out
You move your mouth and you said what you were worth

I'm not sure why Calculus Man never saw a release. Perhaps The Stars Are Projectors idea was deliberately confined to one song? I still think that this is a great song in its own right.

I've saved the best for last. I bet a lot of Modest Mouse fans dream of hearing this live:

Beta Carotene

I got myself the means
I got myself what I call the Beta Carotene
Despite from all the string
I never had enough, enough to keep you dreaming along

And by the poolside
I watch the summer and the thought of the life ends in fire
Sometimes we get so many lifts well
Sometimes you know you're gonna have to gonna get around

And all your friends know that you know, you know you're right and
Cuz they all know you know, you know, you know, you know, you know you're right

I got myself the things
I got myself what I call the Beta Carotene
Despite from all the string
I never had enough, enough to keep you dreaming along

And by the poolside
I watch the summer and the thought of a life ends in fire
And some, so many lifts you know, know, know, know, know, know, know
You're gonna have to go and get a ride
You're gonna have to go and get a ride
Have to go and get a ride
Gonna have to go and get a ride
Gonna have to go and get a ride

I'm never anywhere
I never feel somewhere, don't you know
You know I never feel somewhere, don't you know
Oh no, I never

Oh no, I know
Oh no, oh no
What was, what was
Oh no, I don't, I don't
No, I know
I know, don't go
You go, oh no
Hell, we'll pay

Yeah, definitely close to my Top 10. Maybe in there if a great quality recording was released.

I want to thank everyone who read this mammoth series. The 22 installments took me about 50 hours to write. There was also a lot of hidden time spent playing the songs that I would potentially choose for each set of five to determine what to include and in which order. I will miss writing this series, but I feel closer to this wonderful music than ever before.

I'll leave you with one last thing. My latest playlist and ultimate setlist for a concert. Thanks again for reading: